1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to particle generating systems and to calibrating particle instruments.
2. Background Art
Particle instruments have been widely applied to detect particulate matter level (mass and number) in ambient air, specific environments, and combustion engines, etc. To ensure that these instruments perform accurately, frequent calibrations with different constant concentration aerosols are extremely necessary.
Currently, aerosol generators, such as atomizer and propane burner, etc., have been widely used to generate particles. Many different types of diluters have been applied to dilute particles to different concentrations as well. However, the dilution ratio range is narrow, and does not provide concentration in the range of 0% to 100%.
By combining these two techniques, calibration aerosol is available to calibrate particle instruments. Since aerosol generators and diluters are in separate units, the units must be put together correctly to generate the expected concentration aerosol. The setup procedure is time-consuming, and not efficient. Many variations may be involved during the setup. As a result, greater uncertainties may be introduced into the calibrated instrument.